La Grotta Cucina Italiana

La Grotta  Cucina Italiana is located at the ground floor of ETNA Bldg. along V.A. Rufino St., Legaspi Village in Makati City.

The entrance to this restaurant is so small that you can pass along Rufino St., without noticing them.

Hubby learned about this restaurant when one of their clients invited him here.  It is near their office and he loved the pasta that he ordered so he wanted me to try it too.

We went to this restaurant around 11:30 in the morning, just after their 11:00 o'clock opening.  There were no customers yet, it seemed that we were the first ones.  The place is cozy with dimmed lights and Italian music on the background.


Marinara Rosso Pasta, 370.00 pesos per order



As expected, hubby ordered his favorite Marinara Rosso which is a tomato based pasta with seafood and I ordered Gamberetti, an olive oil based pasta with shrimp and herbs.  I also ordered fresh vegetable salad to complete our meal. 

I loved all the pasta we had ordered, the pasta is firm and the sauce is great.  I'm a little disappointed with their fresh vegetable salad because some of the lettuce are not that fresh.  I love my vegetables to be fresh and crispy so when I make it at home, I really check the vegetables one by one so whenever I eat out and order fresh vegetable salad I expect them to serve it fresh.

The price is a little expensive but since their service is good and their place is relaxing, we will still visit them every now and then to try the other pasta they serve.




Gamberetti, 340.00 pesos per order



Organikka Care Products

Organic products are popular nowadays that more products are being labeled as organic ... maybe the reason is that people are now aware of the health benefits these organic products are offering.

Speaking of organic products, a friend introduced me to Organikka, a local manufacturer of organic products from Binan, Laguna.  Organikka's main products are organic vegetable juice and now they are also producing organic body care products.  I was interested with their body care products with moringa extracts.  I'm well aware that moringa or malunggay in filipino is a nutrient rich vegetable and I love it as food so my curiosity hit me when I saw Organikka soap, hair and body wash and conditioner.

I love the fresh scent of Organikka soap and most of all, after several days of using it on my face, my pimple scars lightened.  I continued using it and I noticed that I am pimple free during my period ...  it was already normal for me to have pimples before and during my period.  A bar of Organikka soap is 75 pesos but with the effect on my face, it's worth it.  Anyway a bar lasts for a long time because it doesn't melt easily.

I also tried Moringa hair and body wash and conditioner but I think the formula doesn't match my hair type.  I had hair fall and my hair was not easy to manage so I stopped using it.  The hair and body wash is 150 pesos for a 250 mL packaging and the conditioner is 180 pesos for the smallest packaging available.

Organikka's Moringa hair and body wash and conditioner.

If you are into organic products, give Organikka care products a try ... you may find products which are compatible with your skin or hair type.

Organikka products are available at Cash and Carry Mall at Makati City, South Supermarket at Filinvest Alabang, Muntinlupa City and at Humana Wellness Center at Tagaytay-Paseo Road at Sta. Rosa City.

For more information on Organikka products, click here for their flyers.

Dragon Fruit

Dragon Fruit

Dragon fruit is now a common display in fruit sections of supermarkets.  I have read a lot about the nutritional value of this fruit which includes vitamin C, phosphorous, calcium, fiber and antioxidants but I haven’t tasted this fruit yet.  Frankly, I don’t even know how to eat it.

Yesterday, finally I was able to buy one dragon fruit which cost 33 pesos.  The fruit was already cut into two with the outer covering still on.  I don’t know which part is edible but common sense dictates that the inside flesh is edible.

Dragon fruit is a little slimy.  It is not so sweet … it tastes like water with a little sugar in it but it is soft to the bite and the small seeds are crunchy.  I don’t find it delicious and it has an aftertaste but it is tolerable.

I made a smoothie with half of the dragon fruit, added yoghurt and honey … it was perfect although my kids won’t try it.  I hope their taste buds mature soon and that they will be adventurous enough to try foods which are new to them.

Dragon Fruit cut in half

Dragon fruit smoothie

Fucithalmic 1% Ophthalmic Drops

5 mg Fucithalmic Ophthalmic Drops

Fucithalmic (generic name Fusidic Acid) ophthalmic drops is an antibacterial eye drop manufactured by LEO Pharmaceutical Products of Denmark and is locally distributed by Zuellig Pharmaceutical Corporation.

My five year old son was diagnosed with conjunctivitis popularly known as sore eyes and the ophthalmologist prescribed Fucithalmic ophthalmic drops for him.  It would be a one week treatment with one drop two times a day application.

The content is not watery as what my perception of an eye drop is.  Instead it’s a little creamy but not that thick so it’s still easy to drop.  Fucithalmic stings a little because every time I try to apply it on my son’s eyes, he feels uncomfortable.  He is already on his third day of medication and so far the swelling and the redness subsides a little.

Fucithalmic is a prescription drug so you need a doctor’s prescription before you can buy it.  A 5 grams tube is available in drug stores and it costs 458.50 pesos at Mercury Drug Store.

Acuvue Clear Soft Contact Lenses



Acuvue three pairs in one pack

I had been wearing soft contact lenses for a long time now and so far I have tried different brands of contact lenses available in the market.

One of the brands I tried was Acuvue Clear contact lenses.  This brand of contact lenses is recommended for one month use (of course you have to take off your contact lens every night) but as usual, I used a pair for more than one month.  I change to a new pair of contact lenses once my eyes feel uncomfortable with the old one and usually it is one or two weeks longer than the recommended length of use.  

Of all the contact lenses I tried, Acuvue Clear contact lenses is the thinnest.  It’s so thin that sometimes it is hard to handle, it keeps on wiggling whenever I try to put it on.  Most of all because Acuvue Clear contact lenses is so thin, it easily sticks to my eyes whenever my eyes get dry making it hard to take off and irritating my eyes in the process.  So it is advisable to always wet your eyes regularly if you wear this brand of contact lenses.

The price of Acuvue Clear contact lenses is cheaper than other brands.  I got mine for 785 pesos for three pairs.  I usually get this brand whenever I get short of the regular contact lenses that I use before my scheduled yearly eye check-up.

Kaspersky Internet Security 2011

After the anti-virus software that came free with my laptop expired, I have been using free software in protecting my laptop from virus and malware.  I used free trial packages offered by developers and one of them is Kaspersky.

Satisfied with the trial package that I tried with Kaspersky, I decided to buy their Internet Security 2011.  I’d been busy with my online activities and it’s best to invest on legitimate software to protect my computer.

My husband through a friend purchased Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 from an authorized distributor here in the Philippines.  The package we bought was good for three computers for one year which was a good deal because we have two laptops and the other one was bought by my husband’s officemate.  We bought the package for less than 2,500 pesos.

Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 is very easy to install.  The package comes with an installation code that once you have already installed the program in three computers, your attempt to install to another computer will be invalid.

Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 gives me a peace of mind every time I surf the web, giving me warning whenever I open new websites.  Sometimes it’s just irritating once I’m in a hurry and the site I’m opening takes time to open because Kaspersky is still scanning it.  Well, that’s the downside of having an anti-virus software but it’s just a little downside compared to the damage those virus and malwares can create once they have infiltrated your system.

If you are interested with any Kaspersky products, feel free to visit their site.

Laughing Cow Cheese



I was looking for some dairy products in the grocery last week when I saw this brand of cheese which was advertised on TV.  It is the Laughing Cow Cheese.

I’m quite amused at the brand name of this cheese and out of curiosity, I bought one.

Laughing Cow cheese has a packaging similar to most of the imported cheese available in the Philippine market, well as written on the label this cheese is from France … so this is an imported cheese no wonder it’s a little expensive.  A circular box which contains eight individually wrapped cheese cost almost sixty pesos.

My son who is fond of dairy products loved this Laughing Cow cheese.  It is so creamy, milky, soft and smooth which makes it easy to spread on bread.  Most of all, it is not salty like most of the cheese I tasted.  I love eating it on its own just letting it melt inside my mouth … hmmm, yummy.

I’ll be buying more of this Laughing Cow cheese.





It did not take us long to consume this milky and yummy cheese.